Richard Cates hit a two-out double in the first for Cal State Northridge (22-26), scoring on Dominic D'Anna's RBI single. John Parham later made it a 2-0 lead on an RBI single to right, but Cook kept the Matadors off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game.

Buss led off the bottom half of the first with a double. Green walked to put runners at the corners and another walk to Keith Castillo loaded the bases for Vasquez, who delivered a two-run single up the middle.

After the Trojans scored a run in the second, they broke the game open with four runs in the fifth. Four consecutive hits by the top of the order set the tone as Vasquez's RBI groundout capped the scoring.

USC travels to UC Riverside on Wednesday (May 14) for a 5 p.m. game before playing its final home series against Oregon State next weekend (May 16-18). The series with the two-time defending national champions begins on Friday at 7 p.m. with a 1:30 p.m. start on Saturday and 1 p.m. start on Sunday. All four games will be broadcast live on usctrojans.com with a video webcast for the Oregon State series, courtesy of TrojanTV All-Access.